Reviews
Both works, which I read with complete immersion, felt like reading about Nagai Kafu, who was treated as a heretic in literary circles for his scandalous affairs with women of the courtesan world. In the parts where he described every single bridge over the river and every nook and cranny of the alleys in such detail, recording the old scenery he wished to remember as if preserved like a taxidermy, I could not shake the urge to personally walk through those bridges and every corner of the
I read it with such immersion that I couldn't put it down, as if the translator had become the author and written the work themselves rather than reading a translation. It is as beautiful as it is sad and poignant... and vivid. In particular, "The Sumida River," which calmly captures unfulfilled dreams and love, is a story that feels as lifelike as the conflicts our generation is currently experiencing.
Nagai Kafu: Mukdong Gidam / Sumida River
*The Tale of the Shepherd and the Sumida River*, a novel by Nagai Kafu, an aestheticist who longed for the Edo period. The protagonist of *The Tale of the Shepherd*, Tadasu, embodies the image of Nagai Kafu, who was treated as a heretic in literary circles for having affairs with women of the courtesan world. Tadasu avoids the glamorous Ginza district, which was rapidly becoming Westernized, and frequents the slums, expressing his affection for 18th-century Edo culture by stating that the area around the Sumida River is the truly Japanese place that preserves the old-world charm.
Korean title: 묵동기담/스미다 강
Korean author: 나가이 가후
Korean publisher: 문학과지성사
ISBN-13: 9788932029443
Reviews
Both works, which I read with complete immersion, felt like reading about Nagai Kafu, who was treated as a heretic in literary circles for his scandalous affairs with women of the courtesan world. In the parts where he described every single bridge over the river and every nook and cranny of the alleys in such detail, recording the old scenery he wished to remember as if preserved like a taxidermy, I could not shake the urge to personally walk through those bridges and every corner of the
I read it with such immersion that I couldn't put it down, as if the translator had become the author and written the work themselves rather than reading a translation. It is as beautiful as it is sad and poignant... and vivid. In particular, "The Sumida River," which calmly captures unfulfilled dreams and love, is a story that feels as lifelike as the conflicts our generation is currently experiencing.
